Even the coffins of Manipur tribals go unnoticed

New Delhi: Nine civilians allegedly killed in police firing in Churachandpur district of Manipur are yet to be buried and for the past one month people of tribal communities of the North Eastern state have been protesting at Jantar Mantar with nine coffins of the slain people.

The protest by the Manipuri community has been taking place in the national capital since November 4 in a bid to highlight the plight of tribal people in Meitei dominated North Eastern state, however, even that has failed to draw the government’s attention.

The Manipur Tribals’ Forum Delhi (MTFD) along with other people from the state has been vociferous against the killing of nine civilians in the police firing in Churachandpur district on September 1.

The protest is against the alleged killing of nine civilians, including an 11-year-old boy in police firing, while they were protesting against the passing of the three controversial bills in assembly.

Nine coffins are kept at Jantar Mantar as part of the protest. Bodies are yet to be buried.

The protesters said that this was a way to tell Indian people and Indian government about the plight of tribal people in Meitei dominated Manipur state.

Tribals believe that the bills mentioned above give more power to majority Meitei community. They are also demanding political separation from the Manipur state.

The protest is almost one-month-old (and the incident is three-month-old) but the Government is yet to react to the issue. It appears as if they either don’t care or fail to realise that the Northeast is also a part of India.

As a result of the market-oriented media, some areas of India do not get the attention they deserve. Their issues and people live under the shadow; people from other parts of India indulge in pathetic stereotyping, using derogatory terms like ‘Chinki’.

Chennai flood is now all over the media after people slammed the so-called ‘national news channels’ for allegedly ignoring the natural disaster in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. Similar apathy was shown to Assam which was hit by floods earlier this year; it failed to attract get the one-tenth of the coverage of what the reportage of a disaster in a North Indian state would receive.

The north-eastern part of the country has often been treated as the step-son of the mother India. They seem to have no information about their culture and history of the NE. They call them Chinese or Nepalese in utter ignorance. It is media’s job to inform people, however, media is apparently selective in its approach.

Media seem to have a different idea of India. Anything that happens in Delhi concerns India, according to them. The role of media is very important, it forces the government to take actions and if the media do not highlight some issues, the government usually ignores them. The only problem is that on the receiving end of this apathy mostly are Northeastern states or the Naxal-infested villages in Chattisgarh.

In Delhi, if police lathi-charge at a crowd, it becomes a national news and here nine people were killed and their bodies are yet to be buried. It has been one month of the protest and yet nobody from the government has reached out to them.

Kejriwal got massive coverage for his hunger strikes, became a national leader, but more than half of this nation might not be aware of Irom Sharmila’s existence.

This kind of protest does not take long to turn into a violent struggle. Not everyone has patience like Irom Sharmila. This is why an issue should be solved in the early stage.

India has seen a lot of struggle in the northeast, leading to the loss of precious lives. However, the situation in recent times has changed for the better. But if the Government fails to satisfy and listen to their grievances, it could lead to the return of old violent ways.

India is very vocal about its unity in diversity. But such treatment from the media and the government does not augur well for the country’s unity and forces people to think that they are different or ‘others’, giving ammunition to the anti-national forces.

The worst case scenario for a democracy is when any section of the population starts having the feeling that its government does not care about them. It creates rebels and conflicts which impact the internal peace of the nation.

Saying that India is as much of a northeastern’s as it is of a Delhite’s wouldn’t suffice. Media need to be more sensitive and the government has to take more actions, instead of lip service, to counter the issues in the northeast and all other such neglected parts of the country.

This report is a bit muddled. There is a general sense of unhappiness about the northeast but the writer has led with the nine hill tribal martyrs. In their case it is not true that the Union Governmnent has ignored them. The three new bills passed by the Manipur Legislative Assembly have not been made into law instead the Union Government sent junior ministers to Churuchandpur in Manipur where these citizens were killed mainly by police officers. They reassured the people that they would not allow divisive laws to be passed by the Manipur Assembly and they warned the Manipur Assembly that if they could not maintain law and order without farther killings of Indian Citzens the Centre would not be found wanting. I take this to mean that they are prepared to declare direct presidential rule of Manipur and Mr Modi will take direct control over governance in that state. The other many problems of the northeast though I agree are being ignored. Even Mr Rahul Gandhi’s pledge to begin talks with Irom Sharmila appear just to be another one of his gaffes not approved of by his mother.

This report is a bit muddled. There is a general sense of unhappiness about the northeast but the writer has led with the nine hill tribal martyrs. In their case it is not true that the Union Governmnent has ignored them. The three new bills passed by the Manipur Legislative Assembly have not been made into law instead the Union Government sent junior ministers to Churuchandpur in Manipur where these citizens were killed mainly by police officers. They reassured the people that they would not allow divisive laws to be passed by the Manipur Assembly and they warned the Manipur Assembly that if they could not maintain law and order without farther killings of Indian Citzens the Centre would not be found wanting. I take this to mean that they are prepared to declare direct presidential rule of Manipur and Mr Modi will take direct control over governance in that state. The other many problems of the northeast though I agree are being ignored. Even Mr Rahul Gandhi’s pledge to begin talks with Irom Sharmila appear just to be another one of his gaffes not approved of by his mother.

FILE - Shimaa Hashad of Egypt takes part in a pratice session with an air rifle at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup at Dr. Karni Singh Shooting Range, in New Delhi, Feb. 20, 2019. VOA

The International Olympic Committee on Thursday canceled places for the 2020 Tokyo Games shooting competition to be awarded at an event in India after the host country refused to give visas to Pakistani shooters, the head of the sport’s governing body said.

India has accused Pakistan of involvement in a suicide bombing in Kashmir last week that killed 40 paramilitary soldiers and has vowed to “isolate” its arch-rival neighbor over the attack.

Sixteen qualifying places for the Tokyo Games were to be decided at the opening shooting World Cup event in New Delhi. But Vladimir Lisin, president of the ISSF world body, said these would now go to other qualifying events.

“The International Olympic Committee informed us this World Cup will not be included in the competitions for Olympic quotas,” Lisin, himself an IOC executive member, told the tournament opening ceremony late Thursday.

“The quotas will be distributed at another World Cup. No one can be discriminated against and we have to follow the IOC decision as part of the IOC family,” he added.

FILE – Indian paramilitary soldiers stand by the wreckage of a bus after an explosion in Pampore, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Feb. 14, 2019. VOA

The IOC said it was deliberating on the controversy and would soon announce a decision.

Over 500 shooters are taking part in the Indian event, for which competition starts Saturday.

Pakistan, which has denied any role in the Kashmir attack, says two shooters and a coach were denied visas to attend the contest.

Lisin said the International Shooting Sport Federation and the Indian organizing committee had done everything possible to get the shooters to the contest.

But National Rifle Association of India president Raninder Singh said he could not go against the Indian government’s decision.

Singh also insisted no final decision on the Olympic places had been taken.

“Nothing is canceled as of now. The status as of now is we don’t know,” Singh told reporters. “There are meetings that are going on where the position is being assessed by the IOC and the government.”